Since I haven't got any personal experience with Carver gear, I can't really offer a particularly useful answer to the question at hand. There are a number of very knowledgeable folks around here (which is why it is such a useful forum, especially for technical questions about home theater in general and Outlaw gear in particular), so there may be somebody around here that has heard both the Carver gear in question and the 990. It's worth pointing out, though, that you have to consider your audience - and the audience around here (as is the case with any brand-specific forum) includes a large number of folks who are here because they have a preference for Outlaw gear. That may influence whatever answer we can offer (although, to give the forum members around here credit, we do generally call it like we see it).